Support for infants&#39; bathtubs



' S. W. JEFFS..

SUPPORT FOR INFANTS BATHTUBS.

APPLICATloN FILED JUNE 13, 1921.

1. ,390,444. Patentedsept. 13, 1921.

JIL I I Y 22 'fully hereinafter disclosed and UNITED smite SELMA w.JEFES, or, SANTA. MONICA, CALIFORNIA;

.SUPPORT FOR INFATS BATHTUBS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Parent-ea sept. is, ieai.

Application Vmea June 13, 1921. serial No. 477,095.

To all w/wm t may concern:

Be it known that I, SELMA W. JnFFs,a citizen of the United States,residing at Santa Monica, in the county of Los Angeles and State ofCalifornia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inSupports for Infants Bathtubs; and I do hereby declare the following tobe a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as willenable'others skilled in the art to which is appertains to make and usethe same.V

This invention relates to supports for infants bath tubs, and has forits object t'o` provide a device of this character which will be simplein construction, comparatively in-Y expensive to manufacture, and moreefficient in` use than those heretofore proposed.

With these and otherV objects in view, the invention consists in thenovel details `of construction and combinations of parts moreparticularly pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawings forming a part of thisspecification, in whichV like numerals designate like parts in all theviews: n

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic plan view of a portion of a standard bath tubwith the present invention in place therein;

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional elevational view of the parts shown inFig. l, the infants tub being shown in place within the holder; t'

Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail sectional elevational view of a portion ofthe support,

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary end elevational view of the parts shown in Fig.3, as seen fromthe left of the said figure; and

Fig.:5 is a cross sectional view taken approximately on the line 5-5 ofFig. 3, looking in the direction of the arrows.

1 indicatesV a so called standard bath tub of any vsuitable constructionprovided with the sides 2 and 3 and bottom .4.V As is well known, suchtubes are usually of a size to accommodate an adult person, and are notwell adaptedfor the bathing of very small children and babies. rvForthis purpose there is usuallyprovided a smallertub such as 5 illustratedin Fig. 2 but when Vsuch tubs are employed the water must be placedtherein from some other receptacle or else the smaller tub 5 must beplaced upon the bottom 4 of the standard tub 1, which is ratherinconvenient for the mother or nurse who is performing the bathingoperation. Furthermore, unless the smaller tub such as 5 is placedwithin the larger tub `1,'quite an appreciable amount of water therefromwill inevitably be splashed out.

In order toovercome the above difficulties, I propose to provide asuitable supporting means whereby an infants bath tub such as 5 may bereadily supported within the stand-v ard tub such as 1 in closeproximity to the faucetsof the saidV standardA tub, whereby water may bereadily introduced intoV the smaller tub, and I further A.proposeto-support the said smaller tubat's'uch a height as will be mostconvenient to the personperforming the bathing operation.

'Io this end, I'provide a pair of transversely extending supportingmembers 6 and 7, each of which is made up of two parts 8 and 9. These`saidmembers 8 and 9 are suitably joinedto hinge members 10 and 11respectively, which hinge members are pivotally lconnected together bymeans of the hinge pin 12, upon which there is threaded a wingor othernut 13, adapted to controll the friction between the said hinge members,all as will more Vfully appear below; n

Also secured to the said hinge members 10 and 11 are the curvedsupporting bars 15 and 16 which may take any desired shape toaccommodate an infants tub such as 5, and which are here shown asforming'a substantial oval shape ligure when the parts are in theiroperative positions. The said members 15 and 16 are preferably made ofsolid or tubular metal and are adapted to form a `support for the flangesuch as 17 ofthe washer member 24, 'one face .of which, 25, ispreferably rounded to co-act with the com-V panion face 26 formed uponthe contact member 27 which isV adaptedto bear againstV the sideofthetub such as 3 to support the device. The said member 27 may carryVa'l rubber pad such as`28and it is provided with an enlarged opening 29through which Vpasses the screw 21. A nut 30 engages the threads of thesaidV screw member 21 and holds the partsin their assembled positions,while at the same time permittingof a relative movement between thecontact member 27 and the screw 21 and washer 251., providino in effecta ball'and socket joint. j

lhe provision of such a connection between the contact member 27 and thesupport such as 9 permits the device to be used with all sorts of tubs,both those which have straight sides as well as those which haveinclined sides, as will be readily apparent. As will also be apparent,the provision of the screw member 21 threaded into the member 9 asshown, together with its lock nut 23, permits of the support beingadjusted to tubs of varying widths.

The supporting members 8 are also provided with Contact members 31similar in all respects to the contact members 27 provided with rubberor other suitable contact pads 32 vsimilar to the pads 28. r1`he saidmembers 31 may be joined to their respective supporting members 8 bymeans of ball and socket joints similar to those shown in Fig. 3 inconnection with the members 27.

The manner of using the present invention will be clear from theforegoing, but may be briefly stated as follows:

When it is desired to use the smaller infants tub such as 5, thesupporting device is placed within the standard tub such as 1 and theparts are so adjusted by means of the adjusting screws 21 as to causethe rubber pads 28 and 32 to contact with the sides 2 and 3 of the tub1, as will be readily apparent. lThis adjustment is preferablyaccomplished with the hinges such as 11 slightly broken or open, so thatwhen the smaller tub 5 is placed within the supporting members 15 and 16the weight thereof will tend to close the said hinges and acting as atoggle, will force the rubber pads 28 and 32 into intimate contact withthe sides of the tub 1. The device is preferably placed within the tub 1in close proximity to the water faucets and outlet drain, and, as willbe readily apparent, it may be adjusted at any height suitable to theperson performing` the bathing operation.

llVhen the operation has been completed, the smaller tub may be removedfrom the supporting members 15 and 16 and the entire supportingapparatus readily removed from the tub 1 by merely breaking the hinges,which will permit of the supports being folded up, so that they occupy avery small space. The friction between the hinge members 10 and 11 maybe readily controlled by means of the wing nuts 13 so that the partswill remain in any position in which they are placed.

1t is obvious that those skilled in the art may vary the details ofconstruction as well as the arrangement of parts without departing fromthe spirit ofthe invention and therefore 1 do not wish to be limited tothe above disclosure except as may be required by the claims.

What 1 claim is:

1. 1n a device of the class described the combination of a plurality oftransverse supporting members adapted to engage the sides of a bath tub;a plurality of longitudinal members extending between said transversemembers and adapted to support a smaller tub; and connections rigidlysecuring saidv longitudinal members to said transverse members, andpivotally connecting said transverse members together in pairs,substantially as described.

2. 1n a device of the class described the combination of a plurality ofpairs of transverse supporting members, each pairbeing pivotallyconnected together; means Vcarried by each of said members adapted tofrictionally engage the sides of a bath tub; and a longitudinal member,adapted to support a smaller tub, rigidly secured to adjacent members ofeach transverse pair, .substantially as described. l

8. lna device of the class describedthe combination of a plurality ofpairs of transverse supporting members, each pair being pivctallyconnected together; cushioned means loosely carried by each of saidmembers adapted to frictionallyv engage the sides of a bath tub; meansfor adjusting the length of said pairs of transverse members toaccommodate different size tubs; and a longitudinal member, adapted tosupport a smaller tub, rigidly secured to adjacent mem bers of eachtransverse pair, substantially as described.

4f. 1n a device of the class described the combination of a plurality ofpairs of transverse supporting members, each pair being pivotallyconnected together; cushioned means loosely carried by each of said.members adapted to frictionally engage the sides of a bath tub 3 meansforadjusting the length of said pairsV of transverse members toaccommodate different size tubs comprising a screw threaded memberengaging one member of each of said pairs; and a longitudinal member,adapted to support a smaller tub, rigidly secured te adjacent members ofeach transverse pair, substantially as described.

1n testimony whereof 1 affix my signature.

SELMA W. JEFFS.

